The World Economic Forum says that so-called ‘Scope 3 emissions’ – or CO2 in supply chains – can account for as much as 90% of a company’s carbon footprint and that more than half of all emissions worldwide can be traced to just a handful of supply chains. Tracking and reducing these emissions is easier said than done; and if you can’t follow it, you can’t improve it. startup in Berlin, The climate choice closed a $2 million round to help companies get some of their carbon from that part of their emissions, too.
“I experienced the problem firsthand in 2014 when I tried to reduce the climate impact of my first company, Resmio, by sourcing products from climate-friendly suppliers. The task proved impossible for someone who was not a climate expert,” explains Yasha Tarani, CEO and co-founder of The Climate Choice. “After selling Resmio, I took a sabbatical and witnessed the catastrophic impact of climate change. In Delhi I reached temperatures of 122 degrees with people sleeping on the street, in Thailand my hut was lost to flooding and in New Zealand I saw the glow of wildfires on the horizon. I then decided to dedicate my life’s work to reversing the degradation of our planet.”
Tarani joined forces with co-founder Lara Obst, who had built what she calls the EU’s leading climate innovation programme. Together they decided to focus on decarbonising corporate supply chains, along with a third partner – data scientist Dr. Rey Farhan, who had recently worked on data-intensive products for the financial industry.
The $2 million equity financing round was led by Gutter Capital.
“We believe the world is at a turning point. From 2024, approximately 49,000 companies will be required to disclose Scope 3 emissions data in accordance with the EU’s Sustainability Reporting Directive. We believe The Climate Choice is in a position to be the partner of choice to help these companies move into the moment,” explained Tarani. “We’ve already seen the success of our platform with our customers in simplifying data collection and collaboration with suppliers, and we’re excited to empower companies around the world to make climate-relevant procurement decisions.”
The company has built a platform that helps companies understand their suppliers’ emissions, collect audit-ready data and take actions to decarbonise the supply chain. The product is currently being used by several early customers, including O2 Telefonica and HiPP. The company says it actively monitors thousands of suppliers.
“Our mission is to enable every company to become a climate champion. We believe that mission is now more than ever within reach. Currently, about half of European companies have a climate transition plan, but less than 5% of those companies show the required willingness to implement those plans. We believe that TCC will fundamentally change this,” says Tarani. “A decade from now, our platform will automate supplier engagement for the world’s largest companies, and all companies will have access to real-time supplier data to enable informed decision-making.”
The company is convinced that it is not a carbon accounting platform, but something completely different.
“Traditional carbon calculation practices rely on averages and assumptions to calculate supplier emissions. This approach is useful for deriving a global carbon footprint and understanding hotspots, but because every supplier within a category looks the same, it makes no sense to actually make choices to go low carbon,” explains Tarani. “TCC starts where carbon accounting usually ends. Our platform automates supplier engagement and generates real primary data profiles on supplier emissions and practices. Vendor profiles are shared openly within our network so that work is not duplicated between companies. Armed with comprehensive supplier data, companies can compare suppliers and make informed purchasing decisions to decarbonise their supply chain.”
